New Steel Alloy Body Material Coming For Cybertruck Says Musk

[Mini2nut]

I hope Tesla seriously entertains a brushed finish for its 3mm thick stainless steel exoskeleton. If the production Cybertruck‘s looks similar to the concept it will not have a finished look IMHO. When I viewed the truck in person at the Peterson Museum I couldn’t help think how much sharper and production ready the CT would look with a brushed finish.

If I had the computer talent I would post a rendering of two Cybertruck‘s side by side. One with the current finish (2B) and one with a brushed finish (No. 3 or 4).

No. 8 (Mirror)
No. 4 (Brushed, 150 Grit)
No. 3 (Brushed, 120 Grit)
2B (Bright, Cold Rolled)

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[Jhodgesatmb]

I hope Tesla seriously entertains a brushed finish for its 3mm thick stainless steel exoskeleton. If the production Cybertruck‘s looks similar to the concept it will not have a finished look IMHO. When I viewed the truck in person at the Peterson Museum I couldn’t help think how much sharper and production ready the CT would look with a brushed finish.

If I had the computer talent I would post a rendering of two Cybertruck‘s side by side. One with the current finish (2B) and one with a brushed finish (No. 3 or 4).

No. 8 (Mirror)
No. 4 (Brushed, 150 Grit)
No. 3 (Brushed, 120 Grit)
2B (Bright, Cold Rolled)

I am fine with anything, but prefer anything but #8

 

[PLC]

You guys are still way overthinking this stuff. It's not that complicated. It's not rocket science. It's not going to be life-or-death flying in the air and one cracked weld results in the deaths of a couple hundred people. It's not aluminum. It's cold rolled stainless steel and quite thick too. I don't even want to call it sheet metal, it's more like plate. You get a competent welder and it will hold a ladder rack with quite a few ladders, no problem whatsoever.
The location and preparation for something like a winch... I'd bet Tesla has thought of that and prepped it at least a bit.
Like I've said before, just slap a sticker, "Sanford and Son" on the door, and call it a day.

It is not rocket science, but it is still welding. Considering the broad range of impacts that welding can cause (everything in between a 5mm long 40A TIG and a 200mm long 200A MAG weldseam), Tesla would be quite dumb to "allow" welding on the structure they take responsibility for. Drilling holes is much easier to define than welding. We should be glad to get at least permission to do that to vehicles that should be kept save and street-legal.

 

[PLC]

I am a little worried hearing, that 304L will be the material of choice. The chemical resistance seems not very promising. A material which can handle salt like 316L should be the least. I was hoping, that the X in 30X conceales a little bit of magic, but 304L is not much better than 301.
If the durability of the CT is just given in desert climate, I would be quite disappointed.

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

I am a little worried hearing, that 304L will be the material of choice. The chemical resistance seems not very promising. A material which can handle salt like 316L should be the least. I was hoping, that the X in 30X conceales a little bit of magic, but 304L is not much better than 301.
If the durability of the CT is just given in desert climate, I would be quite disappointed.

Elon lives in a salty-air environment. It is hard to imagine him not being sensitive to salt-induced corrosion.

 

[Crissa]

I'm more interested in why they're focusing on using a specific steel product and raising the demand for it.

I wonder if there's a grading process any a certain number of steel blanks are expected to fail qualification for Starship and this gives a good second market for those good-but-not-perfect pieces? If you make 1000 pieces, and you need 10 to be perfect, it's easier and cheaper to have a market for the other pieces than to have to recycle them.

Tesla/Space X seems to always operate in 'always make one stone do at least two moves' Go thinking.

-Crissa

 

[Mini2nut]

I am still blown away that the CT will use 3mm thick SS for the exterior panels.

I really don’t care about the grade of SS. I am just praying that they keep the 3mm thickness specification. Tesla was considering 4mm thick SS but the doors would have gone from 60 to 90 pounds.

 

[Frank W]

I am blown away that the CT will use 3mm thick SS for the exterior. This blows the competition out of the water.

I really don’t care about the grade of SS. I just praying that they keep the 3mm thickness specification. Tesla was considering 4mm thick SS but the doors would have gone from 60 to 90 pounds.

That’s pretty amazing to think about that.

 

[Mini2nut]

If the newly formulated SS is good enough for the Space X Starship that will travel to Mars it’s good enough for my earthbound Cybertruck. This truck is going to be off the hook!!!

 

[hridge2020]

If the newly formulated SS is good enough for the Space X Starship that will travel to Mars it’s good enough for my earthbound Cybertruck. This truck is going to be off the hook!!!

CyberTruck already in space.. It was launch on a secret mission.. LOL

CyberTruck In space

 

[alan auerbach]

I have complete faith in Elon in making it a better product than a worse one.

Faith is good, but so are facts. Examples:

-More steel goes into vehicles than any other use.
-Steel has been the primary constituent of vehicles for over a century.
-The auto industry is highly competitive and located in many countries.
-Every material imaginable has been considered or even tried as a replacement for steel.
-Body steel has to undergo manufacturing stress (less with the CT), hold paint (seems less important to Tesla), be repairable, and stay strong and resist rust over many years.

Which makes me dubious about the ability of any maker to suddenly devise a generally better replacement for what's used now. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Frank W]

I hope you are wrong also. I will add that no other automobile manufacturers have been involved with building rockets much less than reusing them either. Once again “hard core engineering” has apparently rethought “unimaginable”. They are clearly thinking outside the box on many different aspects of creating safe affordable vehicles. When something as simple as a door handle is recreated to making the vehicles more streamlined and efficient is taking place and yet all that highly competitive market you mentioned is now building EV’s but yet I just don’t see where they are making many changes along these lines. Even the new Ford F-150 prototype doesn’t look much different from a gas model.

https://insideevs.com/reviews/377328/ford-f150-electric-truck-details/

I am just being optimistic here.

 

[hridge2020]

yep exterior is the same... no streamline improvements

 

[joethemechanic]

To me the big news here is... No problem when you weld something to the body.
"The low carbon content limits the formation of harmful carbides to such an extent that this grade may be safely used for most operations of welded construction,"

Limited amount of carbon splatter making your weld look like crap, and needs to be cleaned off.
Low loss of strength in the areas heated by the weld.
Relatively easy to find stainless that is a close match for the CT body. (this is a big deal)

Now all I need to know is what's underneath the areas I plan to weld? Don't want to melt anything that shouldn't be melted.
Or...
Does the Tesla ladder rack fit my needs? (assuming there will be a Tesla ladder rack.) If the Tesla rack works for me, I probably won't be welding anything to the body.

You aren't going to want to weld to the body panels, hard to control warping while you weld. And the big thing is things need to flex or else they fatigue crack. If you mount two things together by welding them and they don't flex the same way, something is going to break. There is a reason commercial truck bodies are all bolted to the frame and not welded.

 

[Eye of Elon]

Assuming Cybertruck and Starship share the same formula, this video is informative, especially who makes the steel and where.